Pneumatic tire with tread having circumferential grooves and arcuate grooves
View Patent ↗Provided is a pneumatic tire in which improvement is achieved in a wet performance and reduction in vehicle exterior noise while ensuring a dry performance. The pneumatic tire has a designated fitting direction relative to a vehicle, in which four main grooves extending in a circumferential direction of the tire are provided on a tread portion, two grooves out of these main grooves are located on each of both sides of a tire equator, five lines of land portions are defined by the main grooves, a center land portion located on the tire equator is a rib which continuously extends in the circumferential direction of the tire without being sectioned, a plurality of arcuate grooves each extending in an arc shape are provided on each of a pair of second land sections located respectively on both sides of the center land section, an end of each of the arcuate grooves is connected to the main groove on an inner side of the vehicle, another end of the arcuate groove is connected to the adjacent arcuate groove, a repeat pitch Po of the arcuate grooves on the second land portion located on an outer side of the vehicle is set greater than a repeat pitch Pi of the arcuate grooves on the second land portion located on the inner side of the vehicle, and a proportion Po/Pi of the pitches is set in a range from 1.5 to 3.0.
1. A pneumatic tire with a designated fitting direction relative to a vehicle,
wherein four main grooves extending in a circumferential direction of the tire are provided on a tread portion, the tread portion having an inner side and an outer side when the tire is mounted on the vehicle,
two grooves out of these main grooves are located on each of both sides of a tire equator,
five lines of land portions are defined by the main grooves,
a center land portion located on the tire equator is a rib which continuously extends in the circumferential direction of the tire without being sectioned,
a plurality of arcuate grooves each extending in an arc shape are provided on each of a pair of second land portions located respectively on both sides of the center land portion,
an end of each of the arcuate grooves on the second land portion located on the inner side of the tread portion is connected to the innermost main groove on the inner side of the tread portion while another end of the arcuate groove is connected to the adjacent arcuate groove,
an end of each of the arcuate grooves on the second land portion located on the outer side of the tread portion is connected to the main groove between the center land portion and the second land portion located on the outer side of the tread portion while another end of the arcuate groove is connected to the adjacent arcuate groove,
a repeat pitch Po of the arcuate grooves on the second land portion located on an outer side of the tread portion is set greater than a repeat pitch Pi of the arcuate grooves on the second land portion located on the inner side of the tread portion, and
a proportion Po/Pi of the pitches is set in a range of from 1.5 to 3.0,
wherein a plurality of lug grooves extending in a width direction of the tire are provided on each of a pair of shoulder land portions located respectively in shoulder regions of the tread portion.
2. The pneumatic tire according to claim 1 ,
wherein a thin groove extending in the circumferential direction of the tire is provided on the shoulder land portion on the inner side of the tread portion so as to define a rib between the thin groove and the main groove located at the innermost on the inner side of the tread portion, the rib extending continuously in the circumferential direction of the tire without being sectioned.
3. The pneumatic tire according to claim 2 ,
wherein the lug grooves on the shoulder land portion on the inner side of the tread portion are formed so as to be connected to the thin groove, and
the lug grooves on the shoulder land portion on the outer side of the tread portion are formed so as to be connected to the main groove located at the outermost position on the outer side of the tread portion.
4. The pneumatic tire according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
wherein a proportion of a groove width of the main groove at the outermost position on the outer side of the tread portion to a groove width of the rest of the main grooves is set in a range from 0.6 to 0.9.
5. The pneumatic tire according to claim 1 ,
wherein a proportion of a groove width of the lug grooves at the shoulder land portion on the outer side of the tread portion to a groove width of the lug grooves at the shoulder land portion on the inner side of the tread portion is set in a range from 0.6 to 0.9.